Thailand #1 on road death ranking list

[jimjay]

Looks like Thailand even surpassed a former war zone to get to #1 this year.

My wife says that yes it's the police who ignore their duties in this regard, but the reason it isn't going to change is because Thai people don't regard police as responsible for road safety. So there will simply perhaps never be a push back on the leadership.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/genera ... recent_box

I'd like to ask if any member knows what the strongest car is, e.g. one least likely to get crushed, other than some bit of military equipment.

Is a truck better at least? Which vehicles have the most metal in their exterior, as opposed to Fiberglas.

[Doodoo]

Wouldn't know BUT a Ford Ranger Pick up has 6 air bags for protection
I used to follow ratings by googling but these figures maybe for USA produced vehicles

[jai yen yen]

Looks like Thailand even surpassed a former war zone to get to #1 this year.

My wife says that yes it's the police who ignore their duties in this regard, but the reason it isn't going to change is because Thai people don't regard police as responsible for road safety. So there will simply perhaps never be a push back on the leadership.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/genera ... recent_box

I'd like to ask if any member knows what the strongest car is, e.g. one least likely to get crushed, other than some bit of military equipment.

Is a truck better at least? Which vehicles have the most metal in their exterior, as opposed to Fiberglas.

It is darned scary driving in Thailand, never mind riding a motorcycle which I did for 12 years. It got so bad I started having nightmares of killing my Thai wife while riding, so I had to stop. Anyway back to your question, I was watching some videos of vehicle accidents in Thailand and one thing stood out. All the vehicles just come apart like they are made of tin foil, much worse than cars in Canada. I asked my Thai wife about this and she thinks the vehicles made and sold in Thailand are made cheaper. Might be true, try to find an American made vehicle and the bigger the better.

[hairyharry]

Modern cars are designed to fall apart all around you in a crash - but the passenger cabin itself tends to stay relatively intact in even the worst smash.

[jimjay]

Modern cars are designed to fall apart all around you in a crash - but the passenger cabin itself tends to stay relatively intact in even the worst smash.

No offense intended but this seems an odd assessment given the high number of casualties and frequent pictures showing complete carnage and cars twisted to bits with Thai ambulance workers posing with smiles over sheet covered bodies.

But then I guess written words can be misinterpreted so I'll take your word for it in a sense.

Shame on Thailand for it's selfish ways. I'll have to see to it I get as tough a vehicle as I can for the budget as every day taking the kids to school and back home always shows the bad side of the people here, willing to aggressively overtake anyone and anything in their path.

It's a rare day we make the full round trip without someone creating a deadly condition.

[BobHelm]

Sadly Buddhist fatalism & road safety make poor bedfellows.
When you add alcohol, drugs & police disinterest you end up with the results in the OP.

The UK has a similar sized population to Thailand but, compared to Thailand's quoted 22,000, road deaths the UK recorded just 1,792 last year.
The death toll in the UK peaked in 1966 with 7.985 deaths from traffic incidents then.
The total has come down due to technological improvements (in vehicles & law enforcement) coupled with ever increasing draconian penalties & fines for traffic law infringements..

Similar, enforced, penalties would be needed in Thailand to significantly improve the traffic carnage.
That is probably a step far too far for most Thai citizens - just consider the furor at the proposed ban on pickup bed travelers last April!!!

[parrot]

IMO, the chart says it all. And, with the proliferation of bigger engine bikes on the road today as compared to just a few years ago, those numbers are likely to increase.
Observe speed limits, slow down in construction areas, drive defensively (rather than like the natives do).........I'd guess your chances of surviving another day go way up as compared to the numbers in the chart.

[Hoopoe]

I find this rather strange ,But Thailand number 1 on road deaths etc , ( famous again for all the wrong reasons ) Has anyone like me been out on the roads of India lately, on comparison i find Thai much safer, ( yes i said on COMPARISON ) so maybe India wasn't assessed under the same banner ,so samoking on the beach or in possession of E- vaping equipment carries a stiffer sentence than attempted murder or indeed murder , sorry for getting of topic but brain left in the womb saprings to mind

[747man]

ATTENTION----ATTENTION----IF ANY Thai Drivers read this,Please NOTE....APPROACHING A Roundabout/Traffic Island,YOU MUST ( Must ) Give Way to Traffic already on the Roundabout/Traffic Island AND Also to Traffic COMING from you're RIGHT Hand side.....THEY Have the RIGHT of WAY.....Got it ???

For the Umpteenth time I've just nearly been " Taken Out " on a Roundabout / Traffic Island.....So LOOK ( Use Yer Bloody Eyes ) !!!!

Probably Just Wasted 10 Minutes of my Life,Writing & Posting This....But There We Go !!!!!!

[Chuchi]

ATTENTION----ATTENTION----IF ANY Thai Drivers read this,Please NOTE....APPROACHING A Roundabout/Traffic Island,YOU MUST ( Must ) Give Way to Traffic already on the Roundabout/Traffic Island AND Also to Traffic COMING from you're RIGHT Hand side.....THEY Have the RIGHT of WAY.....Got it ???

For the Umpteenth time I've just nearly been " Taken Out " on a Roundabout / Traffic Island.....So LOOK ( Use Yer Bloody Eyes ) !!!!

Probably Just Wasted 10 Minutes of my Life,Writing & Posting This....But There We Go !!!!!!

You're not alone,I'm getting to a stage where I don't want drive here,it depresses me just getting into the car

[pal52]

The UK has a similar sized population to Thailand but, compared to Thailand's quoted 22,000, road deaths the UK recorded just 1,792 last year.
The death toll in the UK peaked in 1966 with 7.985 deaths from traffic incidents then.
The total has come down due to technological improvements (in vehicles & law enforcement) coupled with ever increasing draconian penalties & fines for traffic law infringements..

Similar, enforced, penalties would be needed in Thailand to significantly improve the traffic carnage.
That is probably a step far too far for most Thai citizens - just consider the furor at the proposed ban on pickup bed travelers last April!!!
[/quote]

The only time deaths will significantly go down is when Thailand enforces a strict driving test the same as the UK.
This will mean you must take driving lessons from a certified instructor & the test will be sat under road conditions with a qualified Test Examiner sat in the car with you.

Sadly this will never happen in our lifetime.

As long as you have totally unqualified people being given driving licenses & a police force who will not enforce stricter laws thing will only get worse

[macca46]

It is not only the crazies you have to be aware of driving home today just out out of Nakha heading towards Ban Dung two cows had become untethered and wandered across the road in front of me thank f/ck for ABS brakes I was on 100 KPH just moments before two pickups flew past me both lucky, not hard to become a bloody statistic here through no fault of your own.

[stattointhailand]

Do cows come in the 2% labelled as "other" in the chart?

747 .....would have thought that "roundabout rules" would have started to sink in by now. It has to be at least 15 years since you had to give way to the traffic coming from the left in Thailand. There is still ONE roundabout in Udon where you can just make out the white lines from the days when you had to stop on the roundabout to allow traffic to join from the left

[747man]

Do cows come in the 2% labelled as "other" in the chart?

747 .....would have thought that "roundabout rules" would have started to sink in by now. It has to be at least 15 years since you had to give way to the traffic coming from the left in Thailand. There is still ONE roundabout in Udon where you can just make out the white lines from the days when you had to stop on the roundabout to allow traffic to join from the left

I CANNOT Believe that Thai Drivers going around a roundabout WILL STOP on it & Give way to traffic from their LEFT,2 New Roundabouts in Nong Khai & They DO This....On one of them there IS A Solid white line on the left, Which means STOP & in my book means that traffic from the RIGHT Has the right of way....But the Traffic coming from their LEFT Does NOT Stop to " Give Way "......Go Figure !!!

[stattointhailand]

Next time I go out to Udon Hospital area I'll try to get a pic of the roundabout showing the (still clearly visable) white "STOP" lines on the roundabout

[macca46]

My thoughts are the "UP TO ME" attitude has been around for far to long, the traffic was light today but the same amount of "UP TO ME" imbeciles were out there making life difficult and the only visible police at the cnr. of Phosri road leading up to the bus station only interested in motor bikes as per usual 200 baht a pop I do not believe they are interested in real law breakers on the road.

[fdimike]

Simple answer to the problem. Have the Thai police begin vigorously enforcing traffic laws. Wow now that's a novel approach!!

[747man]

Simple answer to the problem. Have the Thai police begin vigorously enforcing traffic laws. Wow now that's a novel approach!!

Nah ! That would be a NON-Starter Mike.....

[stattointhailand]

Simple answer to the problem. Have the Thai police begin vigorously enforcing traffic laws. Wow now that's a novel approach!!

Nah ! That would be a NON-Starter Mike.....

Too much Overtime not enough Mia Noi time

[jimjay]

I deleted about 3 paragraph rant in this post, about more morning mayhem caused this time by an aggressive driver with Bangkok plates tailgating and crazy weaving for advantage against all cars in our zone, with mixed yet nearly deadly results along various parts of the ring road.

So instead of an endless rant about something that will never change and only get worse as Udon grows yet Thailand stays immature, -we decided to take action to adapt. The ring road just not the place for us and our tiny little kids any more.

I sat down with the wife and a map today to create an anti-ring-road route.

Wife scouted the routes I mapped by checking first on her motorbike & came back to verify which route our small car could easily make. It's trickier than it sounds because the part of Udon we go to from inside town isn't very developed. Yet we found some connector roads.

Yet it only took us 10-15 more minutes to get the morning school drop off done, with only one small bit of ring road involved, and got to see much more of the real Udon.

And all done amongst the usual throng of locals at pleasant and safe speeds, who all have their kids too. Like minds who are more risk averse.

I'm older now, and am glad to have rid us from this twice daily experience with danger.

And the wife and I somehow made this adaptation without any arguments or misunderstandings that get confused as being arguments.

Goodbye crazy ring road, see you all on the slow n easy streets.